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TAG: Frank Domizio

The Philadelphia Police Department is always looking for ways to connect with members of our community. Our District Captains hold monthly meetings to ensure that we are addressing the issues that are affecting our citizens. We have foot-beat officers walking through neighborhoods throughout the city so that people can get to know the officers that are serving them. And, we have one of the most prolific social media campaigns of any police department in the country because we recognize the importance of interacting with the citizens that we serve through every available avenue.

To that end, the Philadelphia Police Department is pleased to announce our latest foray in to the social space, Pinterest. The PPD Pinterest account currently has nine boards. The first six are for wanted and recently arrested persons in each of the six police divisions across the city. The three remaining boards are Inside the PPD, Safety and Prevention and Cops in the Community. We expect there will be more boards as time goes on. If you have an idea for a board you would like to see from us, please let us know.

Along with our brand new Pinterest, we are also on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Take an active role in reducing crime in Philadelphia by liking, following and subscribing to our social platforms. You can submit a tip via email at tips@PhillyPolice.com, phone at 215-686-tips (8477), text message to PPDTip, and on our website at PhillyPolice.com/tips.

Thank you for joining us in the effort to fight crime in the City of Philadelphia.

Tweeting as an organization can be an interesting exercise, but it doesn’t have to be like cuffing a naked and bloody mental patient (if you’ve ever had the opportunity, you know what I mean). As a Law Enforcement organization, we are not tweeting about the great cheesesteak we had last night, the shellacking the Sixers just put on the Knicks (sorry NYPD), or the smelly person that just sat next to us on the subway.

Content, especially for tweets, is all around us. Tweeting is a great way to let people know what you are doing on other digital media. “VIDEO: Suspect wanted for Robbery in the 3rd District” and a link to the video is all it takes. Traffic updates are another easy thing that people love to see. We are often the ones closing the streets for auto accident, fire scenes, parades, etc. A quick tweet, “TRAFFIC ADVISORY: Today until 9pm, 18th to 20th St from Race to Callowhill including Logan Cir closed for Franklin Science Fair” lets people know they need to plan a different route and that we are looking out for them.

Tweets can also give your citizens a peek “behind the badge.” Is one of your coworkers retiring? Getting an award? Snap a picture with your phone and tweet it. Are your officers doing some high-speed training? While we do not have provocatively dressed crime scene investigators using green lasers to find a single hair in a warehouse to blow the case wide open (if you do, call me when you are hiring!), one of the most popular things we have ever tweeted, was an impromptu picture of officers doing Patrol Bicycle training. Sweaty cops after a bike ride, who knew?

Another important aspect of Twitter is showing off. That’s right, puff out your chest a little, you’re doing a good job! Citizens tweet some nice things at us and we love to retweet them. People enjoy seeing that their police department is paying attention and it lets our citizens know about some of the good things our officers are doing. In that vein, we also try to respond to every question. It is usually just a phone number or a link but people really do appreciate it.

We all have many other duties to perform and tweeting could be a full-time job, but making an effort to reach out to the people that we are paid to serve, even if it is digitally, is a cornerstone of good policing. So get over the fact that is has a silly name, get your department a Twitter handle, and tweet away!

Corporal Frank Domizio

Corporal Frank Domizio has been with the Philadelphia Police Department for 16 years. He is currently assigned to the Department’s Office of Media Relations and Public Affairs where he is the Social Media Community Manager. Frank is also a regular lecturer at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business on the topics of social media and content strategy.

About ConnectedCOPS

The vision behind ConnectedCOPS is to enhance law officers’ ability to succeed with social media tools by providing insight, encouragement, education and the overall support required. It is also to promote the insightful thoughts of the law enforcement social media visionaries by providing them a voice on this blog.